January 2016, I boarded a plane to Costa Rica to escape the hustle and bustle of college life. I went into my study abroad program thinking three things: adventure, experience and finding my true self. Little did I know, I would find my true love. The evening I arrived to my host family's home, they were very welcoming and comforting. It was a "mi casa es su casa" vibe, as this was my home for the next 4 months. As I sat at the kitchen table with my host mom, conversing the best I could in the little Spanish I knew, she told me I had a host "brother" that would be home soon from work. I remember briefly trying to explain my feelings in Spanish to my host mom when he walked in... "Hi, I'm Yoser" ........ "Hi, I'm Caitlin" I was immediately relieved that he knew fluent English! From that moment, I was determined to befriend him as I had a good feeling we would be spending a lot of time together. Weeks pass and we bonded through soccer, movies and late night deep conversations about life. February comes and I started finding myself "missing" Yoser during the day while he was at work. I would start dressing up some days and surprise him for lunch at his favorite place to eat. I found myself yearning to know more about him each day, that I would pester him, more or less, to hangout, watch a movie, play a game, or simply chat. He was often busy working on his masters, but this didn't stop me from asking every night. March rolls around and I am now writing in my daily journal... "I think I am falling for my host brother". I totally was, but the funny thing was the feeling was not reciprocated by him... yet! Over Easter holiday, my parents came to visit me and were able to meet Yoser. After just one day of talking and getting to know him, that evening my dad leaned over to my mom and said, "I hope she marries this kid one day". By May, I was wiping my tears as I boarded a plane back to TX, scared that I was forever saying goodbye to the man I should be marrying.

In December 2019, I visited Texas as usual, but this time around, I had an important to-do list: 1)Ask for Chelsea and Bob’s blessing 2)Find the perfect ring for her One day, Chelsea had picked up what my intentions were from a question I had asked, so there was no more waiting, I had to act. As if it was meant to happen, Bob worked from home a couple days after I was discovered and by that time Caitlin was back to work, so everything was perfect in that she would not be around to notice what was going on. It was a Thursday morning; I woke up, showered and got ready for the big moment. I knocked on Bob’s office door and I was invited to come in. I walked in and nervously said, “I would like to talk to you about something. It is pretty important, and I think we want Chelsea to be with us too”. He then called her on the phone and said “Yóser wants to talk with us” and almost immediately I could hear her coming up the stairs. I will spare you from the details, but we laughed, cried, and well, I asked for her hand in marriage and they gave me the go flag! Not without giving me some tough requirements first though, like learning how to swim. (In case you know, I need to save her). Once the formalities were in check, it was time to find THE ring. I had a clear idea of what she wanted and what I wanted for her, so choosing the design was not too difficult. I had a lot of help finding the right people to collaborate with to ensure that what I was getting was brilliant and what we wanted; thank you Chelsea for all your help, I couldn’t have done it without you. I kept the ring in my backpack just feet away from where she was sleeping every day. It was extremely difficult to keep it a secret however, I did not want to just give it to her right there in her room, I had something better planned for the love of my life. I flew back to Costa Rica with the ring and ideas of how I wanted the special night to be began flooding my mind- the planning had commenced!

Given the nature of our relationship, planning the proposal had to be precise. We have only been seeing each other on an average of 2-4 times a year so I had little room to wiggle. I knew I wanted to marry Caitlin around October 2018 and this is when the planning began. I wanted the proposal to happen in Costa Rica, so it had to be over the summer when Caitlin visits. However, because the Costa Rica school calendar is opposite of that in the US, I did not have summer vacation like Caitlin and instead only had 2 weeks off in July; this narrowed the proposal window down quite a bit. With many ideas of how I wanted the special night to be, I knew for sure that San Ramón had to be the city because that is where we met and had our first date in a restaurant called Olga’s Place. I still remember what she wore that night-a simple blue A-line dress that had me mesmerized throughout the night. Now I just had to put all the pieces together. Having the proposal at the restaurant allowed me to have live music and a photographer ready to capture every moment. I contacted two friends who specialized in music and photography and asked them for help- they immediately got on board! I also had the restaurant prepare a special table to be ready for us in a strategic place facing away from the front doors since her parents would be arriving for the special moment. Planning for Bob and Chelsea to be there was probably the most difficult piece of the master plan because they had prior work commitments the DAY BEFORE the proposal and would have to find an appropriate flight time. However, I knew this piece was most important to Caitlin and I made sure it happened.

During the months leading up to the proposal date, we continued talking about rings and what she liked/did not like in attempt to keep her thinking that it wasn’t going to happen any time soon. The summer came and everything was ready to go! June 2019, Caitlin flew down to visit for the summer as usual, but little did she know, this visit would be a bit different. The date I had destined was July 5th. We had been reminiscing on our first few months in San Ramón and the times she would walk downtown just to have lunch with me during my work break. That is when I said it would be nice to re-enact one of those little dates. She excitedly agreed and “came up with the idea” of going to San Ramón to eat and I quote that because I wanted her to think it was her idea to set up a date. We started narrowing down dates and “decided” that Friday, July 5th was the best date for us. (luckily this was the same date I wanted for the proposal, ha!) The night before the big day during a casual conversation, nervous and incredibly excited, I jokingly said to Caitlin “what if I proposed to you tomorrow?”. We joked and laughed because clearly that was not going to happen… The big day arrived, and everything was ready. We traveled to San Ramón with my sister, Jacqueline, who had the ring with her because I could not risk having it on me. We walked around the city and had an early appetizer at another restaurant before heading to dinner. While eating,Caitlin tried to video call her parents, who were in New York for an Independence Day celebration, (at least that is what she thought) but could not get a hold of them. The truth is, months earlier while talking with Chelsea about my master plan, I said that it would be awesome if they could be there. She said that it was possible and once I had a set date, they started making things work on their end. When Caitlin tried to video call them, they were actually in Costa Rica already waiting closely around the restaurant... To be continued....

So, the night went down like this: We arrived at Olga’s Place and my "crew" were already at the restaurant. The photographer sitting down near the table casually “working” on his computer. The singer sitting at another table with a friend who was going to play the guitar. Everything was going smoothly then I made a mistake! I pulled out a chair for her that faced the restaurant’s main door. Her parents would be sneaking in and I could not have her see them before I had proposed. So, I asked her to switch to the other side of the table now facing the "couple" at another table who were performing a song. They started playing & singing “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You”, one of Caitlin’s favorite songs. We were looking at the menu, but neither of us were really paying attention to the words written there. The first song ended, that was Jacqueline’s cue to go get Chelsea and Bob. Jacqueline said, “I need to go grab something in the car” and left the table. I could see Caitlin was nervous and just flipping the pages of the menu. The next song started, “Then” by Brad Paisley, we both love that song. The plan was to propose while the words “I got down on one knee” played. However, the line came too fast and Jacqueline hadn't come back yet. My friend, the photographer, who knew the plan, was facing the door when he hinted at me that everything was ready. I told Caitlin I needed to use the restroom and walked around the table to get down on one knee. I knew what I had to say but the adrenaline was so intense that words were not coming out. Caitlin had her hands covering her face and was starting to tear up. Nervously I asked, “Will you marry me?” and she replied, “yes, of course”. I asked her to stand up, slid the ring on her finger and embraced her with a tight hug. That is when she saw her parents- she could not believe it and started crying hysterically. It was a HUGE surprise! Her reaction was worth all the planning- it was priceless!

Over the past 4 years, we can almost count on our hands the amount of times we have physically been in each others presence; 13 times. It has not been easy by any means, but as the years passed, it did get easier. We have learned to communicate in ways that most couples don't learn until months after they are married. Patience is KEY when it comes to any relationship, but when your loved one is a plane ride away and money not being able to grow on trees to buy frequent plane rides... all you CAN do is be patient. Our relationship has been forced to mature faster than normal, but for good reason. We have big plans ahead of us and this is only the beginning! “Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” -Aristotle